We were so thankful to come home and get this email update from our friend in Haiti, then I read it. How does one sleep after reading this? And they are the lucky ones.
[FONT="]Hello and thank you for you many expressions of care and concern,[/FONT]
[FONT="]This is to give you a brief update. The situation here is very bad, as you probably know from watching the news. Photo essays in the New York Times and other media show many images of the destruction, but no photo can convey the scope of the carnage, the depth of the suffering ,or the smell in the air. An unbelievable amount of humanitarian aid is pouring into the country from around the world, which I saw first hand while escorting Secretary Clinton at the airport -- helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft landing every few minutes. The din was deafening. The power and resources of the US is truly awesome. Stunning in fact. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The US Marines and the 82nd Airborne (my old unit) are spreading out to provide security for major facilities and for aid distribution. The aircraft carrier Carl S Vinson is offshore, sending choppers in constantly. Other Navy and Coast Guard ships are present as well, including a Navy Hospital ship. The embassy compound is a huge city, with every square meter of floor space and grass covered with people and equipment -- including Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, police search and rescue units(with their dogs) from California, Florida, Virginia and NY, medical MASH personnel, FEMA, and many other agencies. Thousands of people. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Concerning recent developments, you probably know as much as we do if you've been watching the news. But I can tell you and Ingrid and I, and her family are fine, though we have lost many friends and coworkers ? including several embassy staff and the entire UN staff with whom I worked are gone. It was a miracle we survived unscathed (that story will wait, but it was definitely the hand of God). We really should not be here. Ing and I have also suffered significant material losses, but in the big scheme of things, that?s minor and we're joyous to be alive. Ingrid's house and her apartments are still solid and safe with only minor damage.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We?re experiencing the most terrible disaster movie you can imagine, with sights, sounds and smells beyond description or comprehension, especially the night of the quake when I had to climb over and through a mile of debris and stalled cars to get home, through masses of wounded, screaming, crying and bewildered people. The destruction and suffering is immense and beyond description. No photos or words can convey it adequately.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]At times, I thought it was the end of the world as I looked over the city after the quake, see the city covered by a huge dust cloud and the downtown in flames, with fire leaping above the tallest buildings. [/FONT]
[FONT="]After Ingrid, I and her son were finally united at home, we gathered the survivors from our apartment buildings (about 40 people) in a large grassy area in the compound, where we slept for the next three nights. We organized water, food and security (all our walls had falled down and we posted armed sentries),and tried vainly to sleep. The aftershocks continued every 30 minutes or so, which caused a roar of screams across the city with each one as the ground shook under our backs. We listened to the constant background of singing and chanting of hymns and screams of grief all night every night that emanated from the city around us. [/FONT]
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[FONT="]Last Saturday, we were evacuated from our house for security reasons, and now we?re living in temp housing near the embassy (our house is inaccessible because the street is blocked with a half-mile of rubble and collapsed buildings). I?m working in the embassy to help coordinate relief efforts, and Ingrid is performing translation services for the State Dept and the US military. In fact, she was on CNN (and other network news reports) while translating for the Secretary?s meeting and press conference with Haiti's president at the Port au Prince airport (where the military Joint Ops Center is housed), and where I was also working to coordinate the Secretary?s visit.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Most embassy employees and dependents have been evacuated. Some of my embassy colleagues were injured in their collapsing houses and were medevac'd to the US. One of my fellow officers was killed in her home, as were several of our Haitian staff members. I organized a memorial service for them yesterday, using the services of a chaplain from the Vinson who choppered in. Many others are still missing. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Ingrid and I are working 18 hours/day and living mostly on MREs. Our jobs and long hours keep us from thinking too much about the reality of it all. Not so for others -- three of my colleagues have recently been evacuated for reasons of health, exhaustion and stress.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We?ll be here for the long term I think, doing our part, as small as it may be. Your thoughts and prayers keep us going. Thank you so much. We miss you and love you.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Gary and Ingrid[/FONT]
